direct-access

[ dih-rekt-ak-ses, -ak-, dahy- ]

/ dɪˈrɛktˈæk sɛs, -ˌæk-, daɪ- /

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adjective Computers.

pertaining to the ability to obtain data from, or place data in, external storage without the need to sequentially scan other data contained there.

pertaining to the method of organization and access used for a data structure in which records are located by their keys, without reference to other records that may have been previously accessed.

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Also called random-access.

Compare sequential-access.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use direct-access in a sentence

Placed in drinking water, fluoride can serve people who otherwise have poor access to dental care.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Have you tried to access the research that your tax dollars finance, almost all of which is kept behind a paywall?
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Can they determine that individual citizens should not have access to rights provided by the Constitution?
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In 2009, Lee Daniels announced that he would direct Selma and that Liam Neeson would play President Lyndon Johnson.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to harm future access to those embattled communities.
ISIS Fight Has a Spy Shortage, Intel Chair Says|Kimberly Dozier|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Each religion claims that its own Bible is the direct revelation of God, and is the only true Bible teaching the only true faith.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
The steamboat of 1809 and the steam locomotive of 1830 were the direct result of what had gone before.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
By the last-mentioned staircase access is obtained by the general public to the Council Chamber.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
It was a direct lie to tell the Austrian commander that an armistice had been arranged and the bridge ceded to the French.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
I suppose that to most men such a warning would be a direct incitement to make the attempt.
Uncanny Tales|Various

British Dictionary definitions for direct-access

direct access

noun

a method of reading data from a computer file without reading through the file from the beginning as on a disk or drumAlso called: random access Compare sequential access

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012